The Misfortune of Nagato Yuki
by yeahreally
Summary: Another Kyon/Yuki story. This is a sequel to "The Revision of Nagato Yuki". Please read that first.
1. Assumptions

The Misfortune of Nagato Yuki

A Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi fanfic

Chapter 1: Assumptions

By: yeahreally

Note: This story takes place after my other short story, "The Revision of Nagato Yuki". Please read that first.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

It had been a week since Haruhi had gotten back from the trip she took with her parents. The days had rolled by like many other lazy high school days, with all of us busy during the day with classes and tests, and meeting in the Literature Club room in the afternoons. Today was much like any of those other days, with me and Koizumi playing a game of chess while Asahina-san brewed tea and Nagato read silently. I wonder how many games I'll beat Koizumi Itsuki at before I graduate from high school? If I were to count the individual number of games I wonder if it'd be as numerous as the times I felt the urge to punch the smiling ESPer for being so smug.

"Now, now, Kyon. You're already beating me in both chess and love. Why would you want to abuse me physically as well?"

Stop joking around and make a move, Koizumi.

He moved his queen to threaten my rook. While I thought of a response I glanced next to me. Sitting beside me at the table in the Literature Club room was the only actual member of the Literature Club and our resident alien, the stoic Nagato Yuki. She looked up from reading her book to return my gaze levelly, a small hint of a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. It was an expression I probably wouldn't even have noticed a year ago. Her golden-brown eyes moved over to the chess board and blinked.

"Checkmate in twelve."

Oh? Did you want to play, Yuki?

Nagato nodded and we switched seats. Koizumi shook his head and grinned at us.

"If it's Nagato-san I'm playing, I'm sure to lose."

While Nagato obliterated Koizumi's forces in chess, I enjoyed the heavenly tea that was brewed by the lovely Asahina Mikuru, the SOS Brigade's one and only mascot, time-traveler, and part-time maid. She smiled at me as she poured me another cup of tea while wearing the maid outfit that Haruhi had bought for her so long ago.

"Here you are, Kyon."

Thank you very much, Asahina-san

I savored the quiet afternoon while I could, because I knew it would end. Peace, like beauty, is only precious because you know it's fleeting. Choosing that moment to disrupt my peaceful thoughts, Suzumiya Haruhi, our self-proclaimed brigade chief, burst through the door carrying a shopping bag under her arm. I twisted in my chair to turn around and look at that bag with suspicion. Asahina-san, meanwhile, froze in place and looked at it like a poisonous snake crawling through a vegetable garden.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone. I had to run by my house to pick up a package that was just delivered."

Oh, so that's why you skipped the last two classes today. Is this something else you ordered from the Internet?

"Sometimes a chief must make sacrifices for her brigade. Besides, they weren't teaching anything I didn't know already. Now, let me show everyone what I got."

With a flourish like a magician performing an illusion, Haruhi pulled a black maid outfit out of her bag. She held up the outfit and a matching set of black cat ears. The maid outfit was mostly black, with white sleeves. Lace ruffles flared at the neck and sleeves, and a black bow sat just below the neck. The cat ears... well... they looked fuzzy and black.

Uh... doesn't Asahina-san have a maid outfit already? And why cat ears?

"Well, cat-girls are just as adorable as maids, so cat-girl maids should be twice as adorable!"

"That's a wonderful idea, Suzumiya-san," Koizumi gushed, while clapping his hands.

Hey! Don't just blindly approve of everything she suggests!

"And besides, this isn't for Mikuru-chan."

"Eh?" Mikuru peeked out from between the fingers that she was using to cover her face.

"I was just thinking it's about time Yuki did her part of dressing up for the SOS brigade!"

I looked over at Nagato who had been staring at the chess board during most of this time. She looked at the frilly, black maid outfit and then turned to me and arched her left eyebrow slightly.

Well... If I had to be totally honest, I can't say that I'm not curious.

"I see."

With that, Nagato got up from her chair and turned around to face Haruhi. She took the dress and cat ears and put them on the table. She then turned to me and looked straight into my eyes and paused for several seconds. Her face turned ever the barest shade of pink, as she took off her cardigan and reached to pulled shirt up over her head as if Koizumi and I weren't even looking. I don't know how long I stared at her, mesmerized, before Haruhi violently shoved me and Koizumi out the door.

"OUT!!! Now!"

I and the only other male member of the SOS Brigade stumbled into the hallway. We shrugged our shoulders and leaned against the wall opposite the clubroom door.

"Well... that's odd. She never chases us out when she forces Asahina-san to change."

"Ahh... but things are different, now, Kyon."

Stop grinning and start talking sense, Koizumi.

"Nagato-san's been eating lunch with you everyday for a week now, hasn't she? Her actions over the past few days have really gotten to Suzumiya-san, I think. I'm honestly surprised it took this long."

So Yuki and I eat lunch together... she's probably just trying to spend more time observing Haruhi to see if there are any changes in her behavior.

"'Provoke changes in her behavior' is what I think you should say."

And anyway why would that make Haruhi wanted to dress up Yuki?

"Well, I would say that by treating her like Asahina-san, she wants to put Nagato-san into a role she knows how to deal with. She does this to Asahina-san all the time, and she doesn't see Asahina-san as much of a threat anymore."

Besides, its been a week, why now?

"Well, at first she probably thought it was a passing thing. And that's after Suzumiya-san got over the initial shock of seeing Nagato-san take such direct action. Now that it's begun, I would suggest that you be careful. Suzumiya-san's reaction could get quite messy."

I'm surprised your Organization hasn't tried to interfere...

Koizumi gave me an unreadable look for a second before smiling again, "Oh, but there's little that we can do against someone like Nagato-san."

At that moment, the door opened again and Asahina-san waved us in. It looked like she had taken this opportunity to change back into her school uniform. I walked through the door and was greeted with the sight of Nagato wearing the black, frilled maid outfit. Nestled in her lavender hair were the fuzzy, black cat ears that Haruhi had bought. I could only stand there, speechless, as I tried to etch the picture into my memory for permanent storage. The way the dress hugged her...

"Stop looking at her like a pervert, Kyon! Do I have to make you run laps around the track until you start behaving normally?"

I tore my eyes away from Nagato and looked at Haruhi's furious face. I shrugged and sat back down in my seat, trying to steal quick glances at Nagato without anyone noticing. Well, anyone other than Nagato. Her eyes had been locked onto me since I walked back into the room.

"Now, make us some tea, Yuki!"

Haruhi spent the rest of the afternoon ordering Nagato around. Making tea, tidying up the clubroom, even fixing up the computer. The list of tasks that Haruhi made Nagato perform was as long as it was pointless. During that whole time, Koizumi, Asahina-san, and I played a silly board game called The Game of Life. Every time I looked over at Nagato, our eyes would meet and I would quickly look away. After an hour of bossing Nagato around, Haruhi ended the meeting with a single word to the rest of us.

"Dismissed!"

Koizumi, Asahina-san, and Haruhi packed up their belongings and left for the day, while I waited outside the clubroom for Nagato to change. Once she emerged, we walked together towards the entrance of the school.

"Thanks again for agreeing to come over tonight, Yuki."

"..."

She nodded wordlessly and went to change to her outdoor shoes. Once we left the school, we walked slowly down the hill towards my house. Why my house? Well you see, after seeing my abysmal test scores in the last round of exams, my mother had tried to forcibly enroll me into a cram school for extra tutoring. I had had to talk fast and convince her that I had already arranged for a tutor before she would relent. Being unreasonably parental, she even demanded to meet my tutor in person! Which is why I had to beg Nagato to come over and cover for me. Fortunately, she had agreed to come over with a silent nod after I had asked her during our lunch break today. Bless you Nagato... If I ever become rich, I'll have a building named in your honor.

"That would be unnecessary."

I looked over at Nagato, walking next to me, and smiled. Well, I could think of a lot of people that it'd be much worse people to walk home with. The trek down the hill and to my house seemed to take no time at all. I guided Nagato into the entrance way and we both took off our shoes. I fervently prayed to anyone listening that this wouldn't be too painful for either of us.

Escorting Nagato towards the living room, I yelled, "I'm home."

"Welcome home! And did you bring this mythical tutor of yours with you?"

She's right here. Her name is Nagato Yuki, and she's the number one student in our year.

I lead Nagato over to meet my disbelieving mother. Nagato bowed politely to her and said softly, "Pleased to meet you."

"Eh!? You never said your tutor was such a pretty, young girl. And you say she's number one in your year? My... how did you manage to convince her to tutor you of all people?"

Uh... Yuki and I hang out in the Literature club room together after school.

"Oh, you're part of the Literature club?"

Well... Yuki's the president of the Literature club. I just hang out there.

"If you hang out there so much, maybe you should join. Well, it's nice of you help out our poor son, Nagato-san. Would you mind if I called you Yuki, too? You two must be getting along well for him to be on a first-name basis with you already!"

Nagato nodded silently. It was probably best to just silently humor my mother.

"Thank you again, Yuki. Dinner will be ready in about an hour. Why don't you start studying, and I'll bring you something to drink."

I escorted Nagato to my room, while trying to chase away my little sister and my cat, Shamisen. Nagato looked around my room curiously while I set my bags down. Sorry, about the mess, but I didn't have much time to clean. Once we were settled, we pulled out our books and began studying. Well, it'd be more accurate to say that I studied and Nagato corrected me.

"Do you even need to study on your own?"

"No."

"I see."

Let me say I was just a touch jealous.

"I will continue to assist you, as long as you need."

Thanks, Yuki.

She nodded in reply, and pointed out another mistake I had made in my math homework. I swear math is one of those subjects that was created just to plague me. We continued like this until my little sister came to fetch us for dinner, singing a little made up song.

"Yuki-channnnn! Kyonnnnn! Dinnnnnneeeerrr!"

Dinner was mostly uneventful, with me fielding curious questions from my family about my relationship with Nagato. Nagato herself only answered a few questions that were posed directly to her. I thought everything was going smoothly, until my mother asked me, far too innocently, "So I noticed you haven't been making lunch for yourself anymore. Have you been buying it at school?"

Ah... no.... well... you see...

"I have been making lunches and bringing it to school for us to eat together," Nagato bluntly cut in.

"Oh I see..."

With that my mother smiled knowingly and stopped asking her questions. We continued through dinner talking of trivial things, and once dinner was well finished, my mother looked at us and smiled, saying, "Thank you again, Yuki-chan. Please take good care of our only son."

Nagato nodded and replied, "I will."

I stared at them speechlessly, until my mother said to me, "Be a good boy, and walk Yuki-chan home. It wouldn't do for such a pretty girl to walk home this late by herself."

I put on my jacket and shoes and escorted Nagato out of my house. We walked towards her apartment building in silence, with only the sounds insects and the occasional car passing by. Eventually I couldn't stand it any longer, and broke our silence.

"Sorry about that, Yuki. Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"This was enjoyable."

What? You actually enjoyed meeting my family?

Nagato nodded and continued walking, "Yes."

Well... I guess if it's fine with you we can continue studying at my place. Unless you'd rather study at yours...

"Either way."

I lost myself in thought after awhile, walking quietly with Nagato at my side. I was so caught up in my own thoughts, that I barely noticed when we reached her apartment building. I walked Nagato up to the door of her suite and started to say goodbye to her.

"Thanks again, Yuki. Please let me know if there is anything that I can do for you in return."

"There is."

"Oh?"

She quickly closed the space between us and looked up at into my eyes for a moment. Just as I was about to ask her what she needed, she reached up and planted a quick kiss on my cheek before going back into her apartment. Closing the door, she said softly, "Good night."

"Good night, Yuki."

I stood there for several minutes before heading to the elevator and leaving the building. As I made my way back towards home, I tried to imagine what wonders tomorrow might bring.

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A/N: Whew... that's it for chapter one. I think I know where I'm going with this, but that's subject to change. If I stay on track, this one may have more overtly romantic elements, but it'll still have a plot in here somewhere. I'm going to try to take a little more time to develop this one, but don't be surprised if it ends up being not much longer than my last story. I really prefer to do shorter stories so that I can be sure to finish them. Anyway, please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Escalation

The Misfortune of Nagato Yuki

A Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi fanfic

Chapter 2: Escalation

By: yeahreally

Note: This story takes place after my other short story, "The Revision of Nagato Yuki". Please read that first.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

I can't say that I woke up the next morning in a better or worse mood than I usually have on any other given morning. There's something about being woken up by the sudden weight of my overly cheerful and alert younger sister jumping up and down on my blanket that just doesn't put me in a good mood for the morning. Not that the rest of the events of that day did much to change my first impression of the day.

After convincing my sister that I was indeed awake, I remember crawling out of bed, but the time between stumbling to the bathroom and stumbling out of my house towards school is a groggy blur of memory. As I made my way up the hill, my mind started to warm up, and I idly wondered what lunacy today would bring. Well at least I'll get to enjoy another one of Nagato's home-cooked lunches today. Maybe Taniguchi will actually start talking to me again today.

I looked around and saw that Taniguchi was in fact walking just a few paces behind as if summoned by my thoughts. I waved at him, and he shook his head at me. I shrugged at him, and he eventually closed the distance between us. Taniguchi gave me a calculating look and seemed to think for a bit.

Eventually, he said, "Alright, you win, Kyon. I should have known that you have all those girls in that crazy club of yours wrapped around your finger. How do you do it, anyway?"

Wait just a minute! What do you think you're implying?

"Look, I don't really care which one of those crazy girls you're involved with. Or if you're seeing that other guy, too. Just... Leave some for the rest of us okay?"

With that, Taniguchi ran off ahead, leaving me standing there with my jaw hanging open and a stupid look on my face. Sometimes I wonder why I even try to talk to him anymore. Maybe I should stick to hanging out with Kunikida, and start pretending that I don't know Taniguchi.

I entered the school and got to my classroom without talking to anyone else. As I opened the door to the classroom, I saw Haruhi sitting in the seat behind mine like always. She was furiously writing on a small notebook with her mechanical pencil. She stopped writing and gave me a sullen glace as I walked to my seat. Sitting down, I turned to look back at her and start our usual morning conversation.

"So what do you have planned today, Haruhi?"

Haruhi grimaced at me, "I'm brainstorming recruitment activities for the SOS Brigade."

Since when are we recruiting new members?

"Since I said so! I need to recruit new members in case I lose my current members."

I don't really think any of the current members are planning on leaving. In fact, I think they plan on being members for life.

Haruhi started to reply angrily, "You say that now, but..."

At that moment, the bell rang and our homeroom teacher walked in to start the class, interrupting Haruhi. She bit back whatever it she was going to say and turned her face away from me suddenly. Maybe if I had been able to convince her, maybe things would have ended up differently. Or maybe there are some things that are truly predetermined events.

Anyway, class continued to bore me to tears. With Nagato's help I was able to understand the material in my math class, but that still didn't make it seem any more interesting than watching paint dry. My stomach was just starting to express its emptiness to me when the lunch bell finally rang. I sighed in relief and cleared off my desk to get ready for lunch. Haruhi ignored everyone else and shoved her way out of the classroom. She left the room right before Nagato arrived. Haruhi pointedly ignored her too as she walked off towards the cafeteria.

Nagato walked serenely over to my desk and set two lunch boxes in front of me. Pulling up a chair from another desk, she sat down across from me like she has for the past week or so. Even knowing to look for it, it was hard to see the small smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. I grinned as I peeled off the lid to the lunch box that Nagato set in front of me. As I looked down at it though, the smile slid off my face to be replaced with confusion. Instead of the home-cooked meal that Nagato usually brings, my lunch box looked like a specimen container gathered from a moldy swamp.

"Uh... Yuki... This looks like its been left out to rot for at least a week..."

Nagato blinked several times and looked down blankly at her own lunch box before softly uttering, "I see."

I looked carefully at her face as she stared at the contents of her lunch box, but she was as expressionless as usual. The only difference was a distinct coldness that I could almost sense physically. It felt about as cold as a snowstorm in the Antarctic.

"Yuki, what's going on?"

Nagato quickly snapped the lid of her lunch box back on, reached over, and closed the lid to my lunch box as well. Only then did she reply to me in a monotone, "Chemical and physical data for this meal has been recently altered. Restoring to previous state."

With that Nagato whispered some of her bogus magic, and then nodded once before removing her hand from the lid of the lunch box in front of me. When she opened hers again, I could see that it now contained what seemed to be Nagato's favorite meal: curry rice. I warily peeked at the contents of my lunch box and saw that it now also contained curry. Is it safe to eat?

Nagato nodded again before commencing to methodically ear her lunch. Well, if she thinks its safe, who am I to argue? I slowly started to eat the meal that Nagato had just magically created. It didn't taste any different from normal, so I was content to continue eating. Hmm... I wonder if she actually cooks every morning, or if she usually just summons our lunches out of thin air like this.

"I create them using currently accepted culinary methods."

Is that so? Well, that makes me feel better.

Nagato nodded briefly at me in reply, seemingly back to her normal self. I decided that I'd see if I could press my luck a little.

"Oh, Yuki... My mother is insistent that I get tutoring every week night until my grades improve. I know it's a bother, but would you mind continuing to help me out for awhile?"

"I do not mind."

"Thanks, again..."

We finished the rest of our meal in silence, and before long Nagato packed up her things and left to return to her classroom. Thankfully, Haruhi didn't return until well after she left. I'm not sure what would have happened if the two of them had clashed then, but I'm glad I didn't have to find out. The rest of the day passed at a agonizingly slow crawl until the final bell rang.

Haruhi ran off in a flash, after yelling at me, "I'm going to make some copies. You better be in the clubroom by the time I get there."

I sighed and trudged slowly from the main classroom building to the old building that housed the Literature Club room. I idly wondered what Haruhi was making copies of before deciding that I'd rather put off knowing for as long as I could. Ignorance truly is bliss, even if it's only a brief respite. Eventually, I arrived at the Literature Club room, and knocked gently on the door.

"Come in," replied the cheerful voice of our resident time traveler, Asahina Mikuru.

I opened the door to find Asahina-san dressed in her usual maid outfit. I smiled at her and gave her a nod when she asked if I wanted any of her heavenly tea. I looked over to see that Nagato was sitting in her chair, reading as usual. She looked up as I walked in, and I sat down next to her.

Just then, Haruhi stormed through the door carry a sheaf of copy paper. She slapped the stack of paper on the table and loudly pronounced, "Here are the application forms for the SOS Brigade. I want to have them ready to be passed out on the first day of the new school year!"

The first day? Don't most clubs wait to see the quality of the new students before figuring out which ones to recruit?

"That's too slow! We'll just get all the recruits we can and then kick out the boring ones."

I see... And we have an application form for this? Are we even going to be allowed to recruit anyone considering we're not even an officially recognized group?

"Argh!" Haruhi yelled at me in frustration, "Don't give me those lame excuses, Kyon! I'm the brigade chief and these are my orders. If you're not going to follow them, then why are you even in the SOS Brigade?"

"Well... as to that..."

"Look, Kyon, if you ever want to advance from being the lowest ranking member of the brigade, you'll need to show more of a team spirit! Don't think that when new members come in, you'll automatically be ranked above them. If you're not careful, one of them could take your position!"

Nagato quickly set her book down on the table and turned to rummage in her school bag. She pulled out a single piece of paper and extended it in my direction. Exasperated with Haruhi, I turned to Nagato and took the paper from her. Wait... this looks familiar, what is this?

Nagato stared straight at me and replied, "An application form. For the Literature Club."

I and the two other non-aliens in the room froze in shock and stared at Nagato. She ignored everyone else and calmly continued speaking to me, "I would like for you to join."

I see...

I made the mistake of glancing towards Haruhi and saw astonishment and indignation battle for control of her face. I just knew whatever I could have said just then would only make things worse. I desperately turned my head back and forth, looking for anyone else willing to intervene. It was then that our ever-smiling ESPer, Koizumi Itsuki opened the door. I can honestly say that I had never been more relieved to see him then I was just then.

"I'm sorry, Suzumiya-san, everyone... I can't stay today. It seems there's a small emergency at my part-time job and I'm needed. Sorry, again, but I hope to see you all tomorrow."

With that short speech completed, he gave a small bow before turning around and quickly walking away.

Damn it... Why can't you ever be useful to me at times like this?

I turned with a heavy sense of dread back towards Haruhi and Nagato, just in time to see Haruhi stamp her foot down on the floor.

"Fine! I guess I'll get Koizumi's opinion of the application form tomorrow. It looks like this meeting is a complete waste of time anyway."

With that Haruhi angrily stormed out of the room, leaving me, Asahina-san, and Nagato, who was still looking at me.

"Is this really what you want, Yuki?"

Nagato didn't hesitate at all before giving a single, quick nod. I sighed and sat back down at the table to fill out the application form. It wasn't very long, but I did have to list some books that I found interesting. For that I put down, "Hyperion" and "The Time Machine". Once everything was filled out, I handed it back to Nagato with a weak smile. I wonder how long it'll take for my application to be processed?

"Membership approved. Welcome to the Literature Club."

I swear that Nagato actually smiled more at that moment than I've ever seen her before. Well, at least more than this version of her ever smiles. Not that her current expression would be called anything but a small smile on anyone else...

Asahina-san looked confusedly back and forth between Nagato and I, before asking timidly, "Do... Do I need to join, too?"

Nagato shook her head and tersely replied, "Unnecessary."

Asahina-san looked relieved as some of the tension drained out of her. Well, since Haruhi had already left, it shouldn't be surprising that we decided to leave as well. Nagato and I picked up our things and left the club room together so that Asahina-san could change out of her maid outfit alone. I looked down at Nagato walking comfortably next to me.

"Thanks for agreeing to tutor me again, Yuki."

"It is no problem."

We began the journey from North High School to my house in a comfortable silence. When we reached the bend at the bottom of the wretched hill that I am forced to climb every day, I heard a screech of tires come from behind us. I looked back quickly, but had no time to react as I saw a small car barreling towards us from behind at fatal speed. My body froze as time seemed to slow down. I can clearly remember seeing the unconscious driver as he was slumped back against the seat of the car. All I could do was give one brief, wordless prayer for rescue.

Thankfully, the great goddess Nagato was standing next to me. She shoved me to the side in time to clear the car, but was struck and was sent flying in the other direction. I suppose this was enough to wake up the unconscious driver as the car quickly slowed down and pulled over by the side of the road. I didn't spare anytime to look at it as I sprang up from where I had landed to rush to Nagato's side.

"Yuki! Are you alright?"

Nagato slowly started to pick herself up and replied, "Regeneration of this interface is complete. No major damage sustained."

I helped her the rest of the way up to her feet as the driver of the car ran up to check on us. I turned to confront him angrily, but he apologized profusely and offered to call an ambulance. I decided it was best to decline. I'm not sure what a doctor would really make of Nagato, anyway... I did berate him for falling asleep at the wheel, but Nagato seemed to want to leave, so I didn't make a big deal out of it. We left quickly and were able to make it to my house without any further incident.

I can't say that I studied particularly well that night. What with my little sister and mother both peeking in to check on our progress, not to mention still being a little shook up by the incident earlier. Why does my life have to be so disturbing? After several hours, Nagato finally managed to force some understanding of my English lesson into my brain and we both ate dinner with my family again. Once we finished, I was obligated to walk Nagato home.

"Maybe next time we should study at your place, Yuki."

"My apartment has fewer distractions," agreed Nagato with just the slightest pause.

I nodded and continued walking with Nagato towards her apartment building. I'm not sure when being alone in an apartment with a pretty girl became so common for me that it could not be considered a distraction in and of itself... Maybe my life isn't all bad. The evening was cooling down by the time we got to the park near Nagato's apartment building. The sound of the wind rustling the leaves was only disturbed by the faint sounds of sirens in the distance. As we approached the luxury building that Nagato lived in, the sirens only seemed to get louder.

When we finally reached the front of her building, I couldn't believe the sight that stood before my eyes. Fire trucks... several of them all gathered around a building that looked like it was a charred shell. I rushed up to one of the police officers keeping people away from the building.

"What happened?"

"We haven't completed our investigation, but the building seemed to catch fire after some lightning strikes. Most of the sprinklers failed to deploy as it looks like there was a problem with the water line to this neighborhood right before the fire started. Thankfully, almost all of the residents have been accounted for."

Lightning? But there wasn't even a cloud in the sky...

The officer shook his head in disbelief and replied, "Yeah, it's the weirdest thing. People reported seeing a freak lightning storm pop up out of nowhere. You'd almost think someone cursed this building for everything that went wrong with it today."

I walked back to Nagato and saw her standing and staring at the ruined remains of her home. She had her fists clenched and her jaw tensed, but other than that you wouldn't be able to notice anything abnormal about her expression.

"Are you going to be alright, Yuki?"

"Yes. A backup of the material data for the contents of my room was made a few days ago."

I see... so you'll be able to get all of your things back?

Nagato nodded fractionally, "Yes, once I find a new place to stay."

"Ah well... I'm sure that won't be a problem." Trying to lighten the mood, I attempted a lame joke, "Maybe you could even stay with me."

Nagato looked at me and cocked her head to the side slightly. She blinked and then nodded as if coming to a decision. After which, she calmly stated, "I will stay with you."

You... wait... I'm not sure... my mother...

She just continued to look at me with an expectant look in her eyes. How am I supposed to say no to that?

Nagato nodded again, and we turned to make our way back to my house. It was pretty late by the time we arrived. Needless to say, my mother was surprised to see Nagato again, but once I explained the situation she was surprisingly understanding.

"Well, since Yuki-chan is living by herself, she probably doesn't have anyone else around here to depend on. It's only right that she stay here, Kyon. I'm sure she feels like she's joined our family already!"

I could only mumble my thanks to my mother and try to make Nagato feel as at home as possible. I gave her a pair of t-shirt and shorts that I had grown out of to wear while we washed her uniform so that she'd have it for school tomorrow. Afterward, we sat in my room drinking juice and petting my cat, Shami.

"Sorry for everything bad that's happened today, Yuki."

"Do not worry about it," Nagato said calmly while sitting next to me on my bed. She looked so different wearing that faded t-shirt of mine.

"I know it's not what your used to, but please make yourself at home."

"Thank you," Nagato turned her head to look up at me, "I have enjoyed the time we spend together."

"So have I, Yuki."

She turned slightly and rested her head gently against my shoulder. Ah... when you do something like that Nagato... I'm not sure how much time we spent like that, but it felt comforting after everything that had happened today. Well, it's getting pretty late. Now... I wonder where she'll sleep.

My mother interrupted my train of thought by sticking her head into my room, "I'll set up a spare futon for Yuki-chan in your little sister's room, Kyon. You two should wait until you're at least in college before doing anything serious."

Having no coherent response to that, I could only sit and stare at her in silence until my mother left the room. Nagato remained resting against me and made no reply, either.

"Sorry about that... I'm not sure what my mother is thinking."

Nagato didn't respond at first, but gave me a light hug before getting up to leave. As she left my room she said softly, "Good night."

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A/N: It took me longer than I expected to write this chapter. School has gotten a bit busy, so I haven't had as much time to write as I would like. There will probably be four chapters to this story. I have an end in mind, but I'm still conflicted on how exactly to get there, so it might take awhile before I can complete the next chapter.


	3. Objections

The Misfortune of Nagato Yuki  
A Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi fanfic  
Chapter 3: Objections  
By: yeahreally

Note: This story takes place after my other short story, "The Revision of Nagato Yuki". Please read that first.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate getting up in the morning? If someone were to campaign for office on a platform of delaying mornings until after noon, I'd vote for them every time. Maybe even multiple times. Most days I don't pay any attention to my clock and put off getting out of bed to the very last possible moment. This is usually when my little sister decides that she's had enough and wakes me up forcefully. She often accomplishes this by jumping on me and pummeling me with her little fists until I wake up. So this morning like most mornings, I was dutifully ignoring my alarm clock while I tried to catch the last few blissful moments of sleep before being forced to wake up.

While I was enjoying the warm comfort of my blankets, distantly, I heard my little sister whispering something before yelling, "Wake up, Kyooooon!" And then I felt a heavy weight land on top of me.

"Ooof... you seem heavier today. Have you gained weight recently?"

"No significant variations in bodily mass or gravitational force detected."

Since when did my sister start talking like Nagato? I pried my eyes open to find the lavender-haired alien girl sitting calmly on top of me. Nagato's serene golden eyes peered down at me with, what I would have sworn then, was a mild sense of amusement. Her two pale arms were like columns to either side of my head. She was still wearing my old tshirt and shorts that I had given her the night before. The way she was leaning, my eyes couldn't help but wander...

"Yay! Thank you for waking Kyon up for me, Yuki!" My little sister cheered from the entrance of my room. She grinned and said, "Now let's go make breakfast!"

Nagato nodded and casually got up to follow my sister to the kitchen. I stared at her back as her seemed to almost float out of the room. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I got up to get ready for another day at school. For some reason, I couldn't keep the image of Nagato out of my head as I washed up, got dressed, and packed for school that morning. Eventually, I stumbled into the kitchen to grab breakfast, to find that my little sister and Nagato had already eaten, dressed, and were packing lunches for the three of us.

"Uh... Thanks, Yuki."

Nagato turned toward me with the slightest smile brightening her pale face, "It is no problem."

"Yuki-chan's a really good cook, Kyon! You're so lucky," my little sister laughed as she bustled around the kitchen, helping Nagato. I watched them work while I hurriedly ate the omelet that was left for me. Nagato moved haltingly, pausing every few minutes to ask for the location of an ingredient or utensil. In response, my little sister would run around our small kitchen fetching whatever it was she needed.

"Hey, Yuki-chan... can I call you, onee-chan?"

Nagato nodded casually while finishing packing the last lunch box. She replied softly, "I would like that."

I was too busy stuffing the remains of my breakfast into my mouth to lodge a complaint about how my sister never called me onii-chan anymore. Although I really wanted to. Eventually, we all managed to finish our morning preparations. My little sister left with some of her friends for school, while Nagato and I set off towards North High School. We began our journey walking side by side in a comfortable silence. My days were stressful enough looking after Haruhi that peace was a wonderfully precious commodity. The morning still held a slight chill, and I peered up at the cloudless, pale blue sky hoping the nice weather would hold. I savored the calm feel of that morning because I knew it would be broken all too soon.

Actually, we didn't have to go more than a few blocks before I started to feel that something was wrong. We were passing in front of an alleyway, when the air around me seemed to thicken almost like jello. It felt like every single hair on my body was trying to stand up. Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my chest and was flung into the air towards the alleyway. As I landed on my back, I looked up to see that Nagato had somehow managed to kick me a good ten feet away from herself. I didn't have much time to admire her from my position on the ground before a column of light burned itself across my vision where Nagato had been standing. The accompanying boom of thunder stunned me, and I lay in the alleyway half-blind and deaf for awhile.

As my head cleared, I climbed unsteadily back to my feet and stumbled over to where I had last seen Nagato. She was kneeling down at the mouth of the alley with her back turned towards me. As I got closer, she stuck her arm out behind her back and held up a hand to stop me. I could only stare numbly as the burnt skin on her hand slowly healed.

"Are you alright?"

"Regeneration completed. I am fine now. Are you hurt?"

Nagato stood up and walked towards me like nothing had happened at all. She quickly checked that I had suffered no major damage. Even after everything we've been through together, I could hardly believe that she could take this so calmly. Then again, I guess I took things pretty calmly too. Looking down into her face, I could see the hint of worry fade from her eyes.

"I guess we can't keep pretending that these are all just coincidences, can we?"

Nagato shook her head, "I have been monitoring the data flares. They are consistent with Suzumiya-san's abilities."

I sighed and rubbed my aching forehead while closing my eyes. I can't really say that I didn't know that already. Maybe I just didn't want to admit it. Like if you ignore a child who's throwing a tantrum for long enough, maybe they'll just give up. But I should have known that Haruhi wouldn't give up no matter how unreasonable her tantrums might be. I opened my eyes to glance back at Nagato.

"So have you collected enough data for your boss? Are you going to give this up now?"

Nagato shook her head and replied firmly, "I have gathered more than enough data to analyze for the moment. However, I do not wish to stop."

I asked her with weariness weighing down my voice, "And why not? Look at all the havoc this has caused so far..."

"I have enjoyed our time together. I do not wish to relinquish you to her," Nagato stated simply, without any hint of hesitation.

"I... I see... But if we keep going at this rate, I'm not sure how much longer we're going to have together before..." I trailed off before I could finish my sentence. I still didn't want to believe that Haruhi would do anything that could cause Nagato permanent harm.

Nagato looked at me with her ever-calm expression and said, "I will protect you."

I put both of my hands on her shoulders and asked her, "And what about you, Yuki?"

"I will be fine," Nagato's eyes didn't waver at all when she said this.

I sighed and shook my head, "We can't just keep going on like this... Who knows what Haruhi will do next?"

"I am sure that you will think of something," she replied with a certainty that I didn't feel at all. Well, if Nagato is certain about it, who am I to second guess her?

Just then, I heard an amused voice coming from the mouth of the alleyway, "I'm sorry. Am I interrupting something?"

I turned to see the smiling face of the SOS Brigade's resident ESPer and yes-man, Koizumi Itsuki, as he walked slowly up to us. I quickly dropped my hands from Nagato's shoulders, while she nonchalantly turned to look at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Koizumi's smile tightened a bit before he replied, "I came to have a word with you before school started. I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to attend classes today, so I thought I'd try to catch you on your way to school."

I glanced at Nagato who didn't seem to have any objections. I shrugged and muttered, "Sure, we can talk as we walk."

Koizumi gestured gracefully behind him and replied, "Please, I have a taxi waiting for us. It'll make having a private conversation much easier."

I shrugged again and followed Koizumi out of the alley with Nagato walking next to me as quiet as a shadow. We climbed into a familiar looking taxi cab, and I couldn't help but glance at the front to confirm that it was Mori-san driving us again. Having to squeeze three people into the backseat of the taxi, we didn't have much extra room. Fortunately, Nagato has a small frame so she fit comfortably in the middle seat with Koizumi on her left and me on her right.

Once we were settled, I warily asked Koizumi, "So... what did you want to talk about?"

His smiling face looked from me to Nagato and back again before he replied, "I'm sure you know that Suzumiya-san has not been in the best of moods, lately."

"Really? I hadn't noticed at all..."

Koizumi shook his head, "There's no need to be rude, Kyon. Especially considering this situation is largely your fault."

"In what way could you possibly argue that this is my fault?"

"Well, if you hadn't forced yourself on poor Nagato-san, then Haruhi wouldn't have gotten so upset," Koizumi chided me mockingly.

"You know that comedy really doesn't suit you, right, Koizumi?"

He sighed with exaggerated weariness, "I guess I'll have to make other plans for my career. If I can even have a career now. I've been so busy in closed space recently, that I've hardly had time to do anything else."

"I see... I should have figured."

Koizumi gave Nagato a wary look before continuing, "As I'm sure you can imagine, the past few days have been quite trying for us, as well. A few of my colleagues are becoming dissatisfied with the situation. So much so that there are rumors that some of our more radical members are thinking of taking independent action to relieve this stress."

"So are you saying your people are going to interfere soon?"

Koizumi looked out the window and said, "I don't have any concrete information or I'd share it with you. I just thought you might want to know that the Organization won't wait forever to make a move."

I looked over at Nagato sitting calmly next to me. She turned her head to look back at me with her standard poker-face.

"Thanks, Koizumi. I'm not sure what will improve the situation for your people, but I'll see what I can do."

Koizumi smiled cheerfully at me and said, "Thank you, Kyon. I'm sure you'll think of something."

Even if you both say that, it still doesn't help give me any idea of what I should do...

Our taxi pulled up to the front gate of North High School in short order. Koizumi bid us goodbye, saying, "Please let Suzumiya-san know that I won't be able to attend our club meeting again today."

It was only after Nagato and I exited the taxi that I realized what an odd sight it was for two high school students to arrive in a taxi together in the morning. Or rather the crowd of whispering students looking curiously at the two of us arriving made me realize what must be going through their minds.

"Yo Kyon! You and Nagato sure move fast!" I heard my classmate Taniguchi holler at us from amid the crowd, "Did you two enjoy your night together?"

"It was enjoyable," Nagato replied deadpan. Maybe she and I should start a comedy act. She can utter the most startling lines without even blinking...

A breathless silence fell over the school yard at Nagato's misunderstood pronouncement. There are just some things that no one expects a girl like Nagato to state publicly. I scanned the crowd and saw embarrassment and disbelief in equal numbers. There were also more angry faces than I expected. I guess Nagato really does have more than a few secret admirers. Hopefully, her fans won't decide that I've despoiled their great goddess and try to jealously end my life. One close escape from attempted murder is more than enough for my entire lifetime. Deciding that discretion truly is the better part of valor, I quickly grabbed Nagato's hand and hurried both of us past the crowd of students and into the school building.

Once we got inside, I glanced back at Nagato who was trailing along behind me, calmly holding onto my hand. I wondered briefly if she even cared what other people thought of her but decided that she probably didn't. We parted ways in the main hallway between the classrooms. I barely managed to get to my seat right as the bell was ringing. I ignored the annoyed look that Haruhi gave me and faced forward as class began.

About class, the less that is said, the better. Not that I even paid attention today, anyway. I spent most of the morning thinking of what to do about the ticking time-bomb of a brigade chief sitting behind me. If only there was a way to convince her to stop... why was she making such a big deal about this anyway? Nagato was just trying to have some fun like a normal high school girl, right? Doesn't she realize how much trouble this has caused for poor Nagato, not to mention me?

Unfortunately, I didn't manage to think of a single thing to say before lunch time arrived. Haruhi immediately left to eat in the cafeteria, and I decided to eat lunch with Nagato in her classroom so that I wouldn't have to worry about them running into each other. The food was good as always, but I couldn't concentrate on enjoying my meal. All of Nagato's classmates gave me the weirdest looks. I couldn't decide if the girls' icy disapproval was worse than the guys' jealous resentment. I should have known that the rumor of my arrival with Nagato would have spread like wildfire. I just hoped that Haruhi wouldn't go insane when she finally heard the rumors. I could just see her going super-nova on the spot. I looked at the pale girl sitting in front of me and sighed. It figures that once I finally get the attention of a pretty girl everything would have to become far too complicated.

"Uh... Yuki... What are we going to do about Haruhi?"

Nagato paused her eating to give me a level look, "You must convince her."

"Me? What do you expect me to convince her of and how?"

Nagato's eyes narrowed slightly as she replied, "You have to convince her to accept this situation. Suzumiya-san will listen to you."

I sighed heavily, "You say that but, she hardly ever listens to me. Even when she's not as mad as she is now..."

With a slight shake of her head, Nagato responded, "If you cannot convince her, then we will have to deal with her data flares as best as we can."

Nagato uttered those words with the calm of someone saying that they'll just have to wait out a sudden summer rain. However, I couldn't help but think of the hurricane that was already bearing down on us. But this was what I expected of Nagato. Her calm presence had saved me more times than I cared to think about. We finished our lunch, silently enjoying the calm in the eye of the storm.

I made my way back to my own classroom just as the afternoon classes were about to start. Haruhi gave me an angry look as I took my seat, but didn't say a word to me. I sat in a tense state that entire afternoon, constantly feeling her eyes on the back of my head. I tried to ignore the feeling as best I could, but it was like trying to ignore the harsh glare of the midday sun in July. At least I didn't sweat too much from Haruhi's glare.

After classes ended, I packed up my things and was about to turn around and face Haruhi when I was unceremoniously grabbed from behind by the collar and dragged out of the class room. I barely managed to keep a hold of my possessions as I stumbled backwards after Haruhi as she strode forcefully towards the Literature club room.

"Come on, Kyon! I'm holding an emergency meeting of the SOS brigade and you're not going to be late for it!" Haruhi proclaimed while dragging me down the hallway.

"Emergency? What are you talking about?"

"I'm not going to bother to explain it to you twice. Just wait until we get there and you can hear with everyone else," she said with irritation in her voice.

Eventually, we made it to the club room and Haruhi slammed the door open. She pulled me through the doorway and let me fall roughly on the floor just inside the entrance.

"Good! Yuki and Mikuru are already here. Put the maid outfit down, Mikuru. You'll be the stenographer today. Just sit there and take notes of what I say. I wish I had time to get an appropriate costume for you, but your school uniform will have to do," Haruhi pronounced as she walked quickly to her desk by the window. She opened the drawer and pulled out a red armband and a black marker. She quickly wrote on the piece of cloth and slide it on her arm.

I eyed her armband warily as I slowly got up to my feet and asked confusedly, "Supreme Judge?"

"Yes! I am calling an emergency meeting of the SOS brigade to conduct a trial!" She exclaimed defiantly.

"Who exactly are you putting on trial? And under what authority?" I asked dumbly.

"That would be you, Kyon! As your brigade chief, I cannot stand idly by while you continue to take advantage of Yuki anymore!"

I stood there, rendered mute with astonishment, until I saw Nagato set her book down. I watched her calmly leave her seat and quietly walk over to come stand next to me.

Haruhi moved her glaring face from me to Nagato, and snapped, "Yuki, you should sit over here! As the victim, I'll need to hear your testimony to decide on the proper punishment for Kyon."

Nagato shook her head, "No, I will be the defense attorney."

Haruhi looked at Nagato with annoyance plainly written on her face, "Don't you want to have Kyon stop bothering you? I hear that your reputation in this school is ruined because of him."

While that's likely true, you can't say that your reputation is much better...

"Silence! The defendant will only respond when asked a direct question," Haruhi pounded on her desk with a small gavel that she had pulled out from one of the drawers. I winced at the sharp crack of sound that it made. Haruhi asked, "Word is going around the school that you spent the night together! I've also heard that someone caught Kyon holding you on the floor after classes one day, too!"

Nagato nodded once, "That is true."

Haruhi sputtered while turning a deep shade of red. I looked over at Nagato and said quickly, "That's not how it happened at all!"

Haruhi slammed her gavel on the desk again, "That's all I need to hear! Kyon, I find you guilty as charged."

Objection!

Haruhi replied swiftly, "Overruled! Now for your punishment..."

"Punishment? I haven't even committed any crimes!"

Haruhi pointed her gavel at me and glared, "You heard Yuki's testimony as well as I did. Your crimes against her are serious indeed!"

"They're not crimes at all!" I yelled in frustration.

Nagato nodded and said, "No crimes were committed against me."

Haruhi shifted her glare from me to Nagato and asked in a deadly voice, "So you'd just let Kyon do what ever he wants to you?"

She faced Haruhi with her normal stoic expression and said simply, "I do not mind."

I could feel Haruhi's anger like a heatwave passing through the clubroom. I almost took a step back, but didn't want to seem like I was abandoning Nagato. Her presence formed a calm bubble around her that seemed to be undisturbed by Haruhi. I slid a little closer to Nagato and was surprised when she took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

Unfortunately, this didn't go unnoticed by Haruhi, who pounded her gavel several times until the handle snapped off. She threw the handle to the floor in frustration and yelled, "That's it! You may not care, but I do! As your chief I can't have your bad reputation reflect poorly on the SOS brigade!"

I shook my head, saying, "I don't think anything that we've done could make anyone's opinion of the brigade any different than it already was."

Haruhi snapped back at me, "Fine! If you don't care about the brigade, then leave!"

Nagato looked at me with a slightly questioning look on her face. I blinked and tried to think of something calming to say to Haruhi.

"Get out! Now!" Haruhi screamed at me.

I looked hesitantly at Haruhi and saw only anger in her eyes. I couldn't think of anything to say to her then that could change that. After a moment I nodded sadly and turned around. Nagato and I walked out of the Literature Club room, and I closed the door quietly behind us.

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A/N: Sorry this took so long, but I've been busy. This chapter took more effort to write than I thought it would. It's also longer than I thought, and I haven't gotten as far along in the plot as I thought I would either. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing, though. I'll see if I can wrap it up in one more chapter, but I might need two. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed or sent me a comment so far! I do read them and take any suggestions that you have seriously. So please feel free to let me know what you think positive or negative.


	4. Desperation

The Misfortune of Nagato Yuki

A Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi fanfic

Chapter 4: Desperation

By: yeahreally

Note: This story takes place after my other short story, "The Revision of Nagato Yuki". Please read that first.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi.

Nagato and I walked in silence down the hill that I have to climb every day to and from North High School. Even though the trip down is easier than the trip up, it still isn't pleasant. The incline is steep enough that you have to expend effort to keeping yourself from going down too fast. Who decided to place this school at the top of the hill anyway? Maybe I should write them an angry letter listing all of the deficiencies in their choice of location.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and glanced over at the girl walking next to me. I wondered if she was as flustered as I was after our latest confrontation with Haruhi just a few minutes ago, but the pale alien girl showed no concern at all as she accompanied me. She hadn't let go of my hand, either, since we had left the Literature Club room. Normally walking home with a girl like that would be enough to brighten my mood considerably, but my HP and MP were still at an all time low from the damage inflicted by Haruhi.

I sighed loudly and muttered half to myself and half to Nagato, "Well, that didn't go too well..."

Nagato nodded and responded softly, "That is likely."

I looked over at her calm face again. Trying not to let my desperation creep into my voice, I asked Nagato, "Any ideas on what we should do?"

She shook her head, "The options that have a high probability of success have downsides that I would prefer to avoid."

Oh? Well what could be so bad?

Without looking at me, she answered quietly, "My disappearance from this world would end this situation immediately."

I shook my head vigorously, "You disappearing isn't an option, Yuki."

Nagato stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face me. She stated plainly, "If we were to end our relationship, that would end this situation as well."

Her eyes stared unblinkingly at me, waiting for an response. I blinked and replied, "That's not an option either. We'll have to find another way..."

"We will find another way," she agreed, like there was no question in her mind of our ultimate success. I wished that she could inject me with some of the confidence that she seemed to have.

We walked along in silence for several minutes while my mind churned. Why is it that I can never think of clever ideas when I need them the most? Does my brain hate me so much that it refuses to work like it's supposed to in times like these? Finally, I pushed off thinking about it for now and said, "Let's get home, and we can think about it. Hopefully, we can come up with some ideas before dinner..."

Nagato blinked and interjected, "I need to acquire additional clothing."

Eh? Oh right... the only clothes you have left are the ones you're wearing, aren't they?

She nodded and said, "This way."

Tugging me gently by the hand, she lead me away. As I accompanied Nagato, I kept getting the feeling that people were watching us. I prayed we weren't being jealously stalked by one of her secret fans out to do violence against me. After walking for quite awhile, we arrived at an unassuming clothing store tucked between a busy family restaurant and a rundown bookstore. I scanned the store nervously as we entered and hoped that nothing strange would happen while we were there. The last thing I needed was for the building to collapse while we were in it, or for a meteor to strike, or... I shook my head and tried to shove those thoughts out of my brain. I tried desperately to think of anything else, and as my eyes came across some of the colorful outfits on display, I couldn't help but wonder if I would get to see Nagato try on anything interesting.

"What would you define as interesting?" Nagato asked me.

I could feel my cheeks warm as I stammered a reply, "Ah... well... you usually just wear your school uniform so... I was just wondering what you were going to buy."

She cocked her head to the side and gave me a slightly quizzical look, "At a minimum, I will require addition school uniforms, pajamas, socks, and underwear."

"Right..."

I followed Nagato around the store, carrying the items that she intended to purchase in one of those small, plastic baskets that the store had provided for its customers. We traveled across the store methodically, stopping only to pick up the items that Nagato had listed. We hardly paused long enough for me to gawk at any of the other clothes on display even if I had wanted to. Not that I was picturing how she would look in some of the dresses hanging up in the store or anything. After half an hour of shopping, we picked up the last item and went to check out. The old lady at the cash register frowned disapprovingly at me as she was ringing up the underwear and pajamas, but chose not to make any comments. It's probably better that way since I don't know what rude words would have come out of my mouth if she had said anything. I breathed a sigh of relief when we left without any catastrophes, either physical or social, happening.

Eventually we made our way back to my house, where my little sister was waiting for us. She was sitting in the living room taunting my cat, Shamisen, with a ball of yarn that she had probably gotten from my mother's knitting supplies.

"Oh welcome back, Kyon! Haruhi-chan stopped by just a few minutes ago."

"What? Haruhi was here?" I asked stupidly.

She dangled a piece of yarn just out of Shamisen's reach as she replied, "Yup!!! I asked if she wanted to stay and study with you and Yuki-chan, but she said she had something else to do so she couldn't."

I winced and muttered, "That's not too surprising..."

My little sister frowned as Shamisen ignored her and the yarn and started waving it frantically in front of his face. She continued, "I even asked if she wanted to have a sleepover sometime with us and Yuki, but she didn't seem to like that idea at all!"

Why did Haruhi have to decide to come here now of all times? I hadn't even had any chances to come up with any brilliant ideas yet, either. I wished that for once she'd consider the position I was in and give me some time to think of a way to counter her madness. I resolved then to devote a considerable amount of time to brainstorming a solution with Nagato that evening.

It was a shame that my brainstorming wasn't particularly effective that night. I actually spent most of the evening listening to Nagato's attempts to explain to me what my math teacher actually meant by the terms derivative and integral. At least that's something that one of us understands well.

Dinner and the time after passed by in the blink of an eye. Every time I tried to think about Haruhi, I found my mind blanking on it, like a troublesome homework question that you don't even know where to start with. Can't I just put this off for one more day? When it came time to go to bed, I was sure that if I slept on it I'd think of something to do. Reassuring myself of this, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep for the night...

--------------------------

I opened my eyes to find myself standing in front of the train station that usually serves as the SOS Brigade's gathering place. I blinked and looked around, but the dark evening shadows hid my surroundings. A light mist seemed to cover the ground, and I couldn't see very far off into the distance. I swung my head back around just in time to see Haruhi walking up to me. Haruhi squinted at me as she came to a stop in front of me, and said, "Hmph.... And I expected you to be late like usual. Why can't you take our regular meetings this seriously?"

I gave her a confused look and said slowly, "Meeting? What are you talking about?"

Haruhi gave me an disapproving look, "Are you stupid? We had planned to meet here all along. Don't you remember?"

I gave a shrug. I hadn't remembered making any such promise, but with Haruhi it was probably better not to admit something like that unless you were looking for an extra serving of punishment. Since we were here anyway, I figured I might as well try to talk to her about Nagato. "Look, Haruhi... about Nagato and I..."

"Oh Nagato is it? Why aren't you calling her Yuki anymore?" Haruhi asked harshly.

"Uh... yeah, Yuki... You know who I meant."

She grimaced at me and said, "You mean that traitor that's trying to steal you away from the SOS Brigade?"

I winced and asked, "Don't you think that's a little harsh? She's just trying to..."

Haruhi cut me off quickly, "Just trying to what? Steal away one of the founding members of the SOS Brigade?"

Oh? When had I gotten enough experience points to level up to 'founding member' status?

Stomping her foot angrily against the ground, Haruhi said, "You've always been a founding member. It's just the lack of effort that you give to brigade activities means that everyone else has advanced past you."

I shook my head at her explanation, "Anyway, we're not here to talk about my poor advancement through the brigade ranks..."

Cutting in again, Haruhi said, "Oh? Would you rather talk about you abandoning the brigade to lead an indecent life with Yuki?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead where I could feel a large headache forming. Slowly, I said, "We haven't done anything indecent. Yuki's just trying to do some things that are part of a normal high school life. You might try it sometime."

Haruhi scrunched up her face and looked away saying, "Normal and ordinary are not virtues. It'd be easy to give up the Brigade to go chasing after guys, but that's not what I want at all!"

I retorted, "But that doesn't mean that other people can't be interested in normal things like that."

She glared at me and said sharply, "But I expect better from my brigade members! The brigade's purpose is find the extra-ordinary."

"So that's it? You're going to run away from everything in this world that you think is ordinary?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not running away!"

"Aren't you? Aren't we here because you're too afraid to face what might happen? Too afraid of Yuki or me finding happiness in something as normal as love? So afraid of getting hurt that you can't try to find happiness like a normal person?" I demanded of her, letting out a piece of anger I hadn't even known I held in my heart.

Haruhi shook her head violently in denial, "I am not afraid! Not of Yuki or any one or anything else!"

I crossed my arms and replied in my best taunting voice, "Oh? Prove it."

Haruhi quickly reached out and grabbed my shirt, pulling me suddenly down towards her. Time seemed to slow down as our heads came ever closer together, but I was too shocked to react at all. When we were less than 5 cm apart, Haruhi closed her eyes, and then my vision was blinded by a light brighter than any I had ever seen before.

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The next thing I felt was my body slamming into the cold floor. It took me a few moments to realize that I was lying face-down on the floor of my own bedroom, my blanket twisted around me. I shook my head to try to clear it of the vivid dream that I had just woken up from, and cursed myself for thinking of Haruhi right before I went to bed. I was just starting to sit up when I noticed someone was sitting down next to me.

"Welcome back."

I blinked and looked over to see Nagato's small form sitting serenely on the floor next to me, wearing the pale blue pajamas that she had purchased earlier in the day. She moves so quietly, that sometimes I've wondered if she's actually a ninja in addition to being an alien humanoid interface. Hmmm... I have to remember never to mention that observation to Haruhi, or who knows what might happen. I gave a startled half-grunt before stopping myself, and asked in a rushed whisper, "What are you doing in my room in the middle of the night?"

Nagato blinked and replied evenly, "I sensed your departure from this world and came to investigate. It took me some time to locate you, even with the nano-machines that I had implanted in you."

You put what in me?

She nodded, "Nano-machines. From the time that you traveled to the past to ask for my assistance with the disappearance of Suzumiya-san."

I blinked a few times trying to gather my wits about me, "Ahh... those. I had forgotten you had done that. I didn't realize that you'd be able to track me with those..."

Nagato shook her head slightly, "They were not designed for it. Almost all of them have been overloaded in order to locate your relative position and transport you back here."

"Wait... you said 'departure'... you mean I was actually gone? For how long?"

She answered me calmly, "You were absent from this world for approximately 7 minutes, and 29 seconds. It took me approximately 4 minutes and 21 seconds to extrapolate your relative location, and the rest of the time was spent trying to force the execution of a program to safely return you to this space." The shadow of a worried frown crept onto Nagato face, as she continued, "The program made 25,659 attempts to extract you before succeeding."

I sat astonished at the number Nagato uttered so casually. I knew she wasn't one to give up easily, but I didn't think anyone had that kind of patience. "Uhh... Thank you for rescuing me, Yuki." I paused for a second, and then continued slowly, "Just curious, but if the first attempts failed, what made you able to finally get through?"

The pale girl gave me an inscrutable look before shifting her gaze to look away as if studying something far off in the distance. After several moments, she finally broke her silence and replied, "The defenses that Suzumiya-san erected around the closed dimension were formidable. I was initially unable to do anything more than establish a weak link despite all of my efforts. After some time, the barriers appeared to weaken from within, and it was only then that I was able to extract you."

"Weakened?" I mumbled, half to my self. "I wonder what caused that..."

Nagato turned her head back to stare at me with her unreadable face. A slight strain entered her voice as she said, "I believe she became distracted. By you."

I never thought I would ever hear anything close to jealousy coming from the quiet girl sitting next to me. I doubt that anyone else would have even noticed it. But for someone who has had the chance to closely study Nagato's calm manner for about a year now, it was as plain as day. I shrugged nervously and gave a weak grin, saying, "Yeah, I'm sure my nagging was really distracting Haruhi."

She just shook her head slightly in reply. Not wanting to dwell on that line of reasoning much, I hastily added, "So... I guess we really should figure out something to do about Haruhi."

"Yes. Steps must be taken to protect you from Suzumiya-san," Nagato said a firmness that I rarely ever see in her. "I would like to provide you with additional nano-machines in case another dangerous situation arises."

Uh... I don't really like the idea of having anything else injected in me. And no offense, but I'm not really used to having someone bite my wrist. I should probably be glad that Haruhi has never had a fixation on vampire stories.

The pale alien girl (who was probably not a vampire) cocked her head slightly to the side and gave me a curious look. The normally flat line of her lips seemed to curve upward slightly as she said, "I have devised a different method that you may find more acceptable. If you would allow me to demonstrate."

I gave her a half-suspicious glance before agreeing with a quick nod. Hanging around Haruhi really has made me a paranoid person. If there was anyone that I shouldn't be suspicious of it's Nagato. Maybe I should do some charity work to restore my faith in humanity. But that would probably involve too much time on top of...

My body froze as Nagato started to move closer to me, her face floating closer and closer to mine. My breath caught as her eyes closed, and my conscious thoughts disappeared as her soft lips pressed against mine. I don't know how long it lasted, but I remember her gentling biting my lower lip before our heads moved back apart. Maybe I should find some more excuses to be injected with nano-machines...

"Was that more enjoyable?" Nagato asked me calmly, the only change in her voice a slight breathless.

I nodded mutely, deciding that maybe I should be the silent one for once.

A hint of a small smile brightened her normally stoic face as she stood up and said, "I will let you get some rest. We can talk further in the morning."

I nodded reluctantly, but it was probably best to call it a night. There was no doubt in my mind that I would be killed if anyone were to find Nagato and I alone in my room at such a suspicious time. I silently watched her leave, and crawled back into bed. At first, sleep stayed annoyingly out of reach. As my mind wandered, I often thought of Nagato, but those thoughts were quickly chased away by disturbing visions of a rampaging Haruhi. Eventually exhaustion over took me, and my thoughts turned into dreams and nightmares.

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A/N: Sorry for the long delay, but school has been busy. At least the end of the semester is almost here. A collapsing building and a meteor crash were both ideas that I had, but decided not to do because I thought it would be too extreme. This chapter was going to be longer, but given how slow I've been with writing, I figured you would hate me if I ended this chapter on a cliffhanger. So that part will be in the next chapter. Which might be the last. Or not. This story seems to get longer and longer as I write it...


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